You can control how your data records will display when a user opens a form in your Access application. If you want your users to work with only one record at a time, you would open the form in Single Form view. If you want users to view more than one record at a time — or as many records that can fit on a screen — you would specify Continuous Forms view. If you choose Datasheet view, the form displays records in rows and columns similar to a spreadsheet.

You can also have the form open in PivotTable or PivotChart view. Access 2007 users also have the option to open the form in Split Form view. Split Form view displays the records in a datasheet in the upper section of the form and as single records in the lower section of the form. Selecting a record in the datasheet displays the information for that record in the lower section of the form for editing.

Once you have chosen which view to display when a user opens the form, you need to specify it as the form's Default View property. For example, to set Continuous as the default, follow these steps:

Open the form in Design view.

In the Property Sheet, click the drop-down arrow in the Selection type box and choose Form.

Under the Format tab, click the Default View drop-down arrow and select Continuous.